Spilling the Beans on Accounting

I think every Accountant needs to have a minor in Psychology.

I work in a very stressful environment. Perhaps it is just me. Most people THRIVE off of this stress in my office. I tend to get sick over it. It seems to have gotten worse as the economy has gotten worse. I speak with people almost every day that have had a terrible tragedy and somehow they are struggling to get out of the circumstances following it. My role in this scheme is to get them financially organized so they can move forward with banks, budgeting, or other financing to get their feet back under them.

And I am a Christian.

My heart beats to show people the love of Christ. I don't know how to be a Christian and not take my job personally, wherever I'm working. God has officially appointed me to this place for this time where every single tragic person I come into contact with needs a beacon of hope. What can I give to them? I am a broken human being just as they are. I don't have the financial means to bail everyone out in a hard time. I don't have a home to offer to almost-homeless people. I don't have a job to give them.

But I have Jesus. And He makes all the difference. He really does! I can give them my ear to listen to them. I'm really good at listening. I can give them hard work, to save them money on the cost of their services. I can give them conversation peppered with hope. I can give them a simple hug when that's all they really came into the office for...

I may never know until eternity in heaven what impact I have here. But I will strive through every moment of it, however difficult it becomes, however many times I fail, to be a helper to those in need around me. Right now it means organizing them financially, having the grace and mercy to listen to their tragic stories, and having the heart to weep and pray for them when I think of them in my alone time with God.

Hopefully one day they will find peace in the midst of their circumstances, to lean on a Solid Rock, and to know that He quite possibly orchestrated all of their heartache just to bring them to this unspeakable peace. That sounds like such a harsh God, doesn't it? But my hope is that they will see, as I have seen in my heartache, that God works in non-logical ways to bring us joy. Which sometimes involves breaking us into pieces.

Or giving us a very stressful working environment. :o)

Spilling the Beans

(This is a re-post from a blog I used to have.  Original post date was 7/25/09. The post is still as relevant today as is was then.)